Posted by Lambchop
Forbes just released the Highest
Paid Celebrities list. What is interesting is that of the Top 5, two are
African-American and three are Jewish-Americans (one the son of German
immigrants). These media moguls are all self-made. Contrary to the current
class warfare portrait of the rich being peddled by President Obama, the Forbes highest paid entertainers struggled and
worked harder than most, from their early teens. As Obama instructs the nation
that America is racist, there is no such thing as a self-made success story,
and the wealthy are bad people who do not pay their “fair share” – the portraits
of these five achievers offers lots of evidence to the contrary.
The biographies of these movers and shakers are fascinating.
Oprah, Dr, Dre, and Jerry Bruckheimer grew up poor by anyone’s standards. Some
faced physical or sexual abuse, divorced parents and multiple moves during
their early childhoods. They all had
focus and an idea of what they wanted to do from childhood or as teenagers. All
of them seized early opportunities, knew the value of proving themselves to a
potential mentor (including taking unpaid internships or sacrificing paying
careers for much less money to take a chance to do what they loved). Degrees
were not a major factor in their lives. Most of them started working as teens.
- Oprah Winfrey $165 Million
Oprah has built a media empire including a
magazine, satellite radio station, Harpo Productions (Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and
Rachel Ray), and of course the struggling cable network OWN. Oprah was born to
an unwed single mother, raised in Mississippi, and moved to Milwaukee with her
mother who was employed as a chamber maid.
Sexually abused, Oprah ran away from
home at 14 and ended up with her father. By 17 she won a pageant scholarship to
college and was also awarded a job with TV station, WLOL. She worked at WLOL,
left college and broadcasting became her career. Oprah scored her first local
talk show in 1976. In 1986, she started Harpo Productions. By 1987 Oprah became
the youngest person to ever receive the IRTS “Broadcaster of the Year” award. In
1988 Harpo Productions acquired ownership of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
- Michael Bay $160 Million
Bay is a producer and director of such
notable projects as The Rock, Armageddon,
Pearl Harbor, and the Transformers
series. Michael Bay, a Jewish-American, was born and raised in L.A. - his
mother had a bookstore and father was a CPA. He began filming with his mom’s 8mm camera as
a child. Bay started working at 15 years old, interning for George Lucas’ film company.
After finishing his post-graduate degree, Bay took a gig directing commercials and
videos. Bay won a Clio Award for a Red Cross ad, caught the attention of
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and got hired for his first directing job in 1994.
Bay started his production firm in 2001.
- Steven Spielberg $130 Million
Famed Director, Steven Spielberg is
probably the best known for Jaws, E.T.,
Schindler’s List, and Saving Private
Ryan. Spielberg was raised in Ohio, son of Orthodox Jews. His mother had a
restaurant and was a concert pianist, and father an electrical engineer. Spielberg
was singled out by anti-Semitic bullies from childhood through high school and
was a victim of violence. Spielberg made
films with his parent’s 8 mm camera from childhood. He directed his first independent
film at the age of 16. Spielberg’s parents divorced. Spielberg was in college
but left for an unpaid 7 day per week internship at Universal Studios.
Spielberg became the youngest director signed for a long-term deal at Universal
after making a short film as an intern and showing it to his future mentor. He
started directing TV, but Spielberg was on the map in the mid 1970s for
directing feature films The SugarLand
Express and later, Jaws. By the
1990s Spielberg was building DreamWorks Studios.
- Jerry Bruckheimer $115 Million
Film and Television producer noted for American Gigolo, Flashdance, Top Gun, Black
Hawk Down and Armageddon. His television credits
include CSI and The Amazing Race. Bruckheimer was born in Detroit, the son of poor German
Jewish immigrants. The weekly matinee was his babysitter while his parents
worked. Bruckheimer graduated from
University of Arizona and was a film buff from childhood dabbling in photography.
His first job was at an ad agency in the mail room. After producing
award-winning commercials, Bruckheimer transferred his production abilities to
feature film industry, taking a drastic pay cut from his advertising agency
gig. By 1983, Bruckheimer teamed with Don Simpson for Flashdance and they have been producing box office gold ever since.
- Dr. Dre $110 Million
Famed Rapper, Music Producer, Dr. Dre was
born to teenage parents (aged 16 and 17) in Compton, California. He struggled in
school, making bad grades and was switched to schools that were riddled with gang
violence. Dre ended up joining musical group World Class Wreckin Crew who
scored a record deal in 1984. Dr. Dre partnered with Ice Cube and Ruthless
records. He later went on to release album, The
Chronic, under Death Row Records label where he also started producing new
talent like Snoop Dog and later, Eminem. By 2001 Dre was focused on production.
In 2008, he released a brand of headphones, Beats by Dr. Dre. HTC paid $300
Million for 51% of the company last year.
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